The Buttertones keep punk alive

By Josh Bell July 6, 2018

The members of Los Angeles garage-rockers The Buttertones are all in their 20s, but the band’s musical taste skews decidedly older, from ’90s alt-rock and ’70s punk all the way back to the early days of rock ’n’ roll. “We all can relate to certain artists, but we each have our own heroes and holy trinities,” singer-guitarist Richard Araiza told Vice last year.

When the band put out its first independent release in 2013, it was released initially only on cassette. The group’s surf-punk sound quickly gained popularity around Los Angeles, and The Buttertones made their debut on influential indie label Innovative Leisure with 2017’s Gravedigging. The band followed up with May’s Midnight in a Moonless Dream, which PopMatters said “shows The Buttertones unhesitant to pick up and start taking chances at any point.” With such a diverse set of classic and underground influences, The Buttertones have a wide range of sounds to explore in their music, and that sense of possibility applies to the band’s live shows as well. “Things like tempo and dynamics are always kind of flexible,” bassist Sean Redman told Vice about The Buttertones’ live sound. “It never really happens the same way twice.”